Down But Not Out
by Maeve of Winter
Summary: Stuck at home with the flu while her mother is off on her honeymoon with her new husband, Josie is aching, tired, and miserable. But at least she's not alone. Josie & Kevin sib fic, Josie & Kevin sickfic.


It seemed like all too much effort to reach for her phone when it pinged with a next text, and Josie hunkered down further beneath the afghan, pressing her head into the oversized throw pillow and insistently ignoring it. But when the phone buzzed a second time, rattling against the wooden surface of the coffee table that was all too close to her head, she gave in with a weary groan and obediently reached over the edge of the couch to retrieve it, her muscles protesting as she did.

Squinting down at the screen and forcing her eyes to focus, she managed to skim over a brief message from her mom saying that she and Tom had landed in Prince Edward's Island safely. Josie barely managed to send a smiley emoji in response before her headache began throbbing too badly for her to continue looking at the screen.

 _Talk about unfair,_ she mentally groused as she slid her phone away. With Tom and her mother away for the week on their honeymoon, she and Kevin should have been partying it up or at least enjoying having the house to themselves. Instead, both of them had come down with the flu.

Flopping back down onto the couch, Josie had just settled in again when several hacking coughs scraped out of her throat, forcing her to sit back up. Her head pounded as she did, and while she wanted nothing more than to wrap herself in blankets and try to go back to sleep, she knew her mouth was too dry to even think about sleeping comfortably.

She threw back the afghan and painstakingly heaved herself up from the couch, casting a mournful glance over her shoulder as she trudged into the kitchen. It was one of those puffy brown leather sectional types, and she'd always considered it peak suburban dad decor. But now that she'd spent the past twenty-four hours or so sprawled across the cushions, she could see why Tom had selected it: it was damn comfortable.

Stumbling over to one of the cupboards, Josie leaned onto the counter for support as she reached up to retrieve a glass and then filled it at the sink before lifting it up to her mouth with shaking hands. She only managed a few swallows before exhaustion washed over her, and rendered standing any further a seemingly insurmountable task. She hurried as much as she was able to one of the kitchen chairs, barely managing to sit down before her trembling legs gave out beneath her.

Folding her arms into a pillow, Josie plunked her head down on top of them, squeezing her eyes shut, her head pounding worse than ever. Just as she began to despair of making it the short distance back to the couch, she heard the front door open and footsteps walk down the hall. She could tell from the sound of the paces alone that it was Kevin.

"Hey," now-hoarse voice of her stepbrother said quietly, likely unable to manage a loud volume, as he came to join her at the table. "You doing all right?"

With a Herculean effort, Josie opened her eyes and lifted up her head, the room tilting slightly as she did. "Well, I'm still alive," she told Kevin. "That's gotta count for something, I guess."

Kevin managed a small smile, the white of his teeth standing out against his gray face; while his case of the flu wasn't quite as bad as hers, he still looked incredibly ill and tired. "Well, I'm glad I didn't have to go through all that trouble for nothing, then." He held up the plastic bag he was carrying. "Gatorade, saltines, a six-pack of ginger ale, and pedialyte."

"Huh?" Josie gave him as quizzical of a glance as she could in her weakened state. "Isn't that Pedialyte stuff for toddlers or something?"

"Reggie recommended it to me as a way to deal with hangovers," Kevin explained briefly, setting the bag down on the table. "Figured it would work just as well for the flu."

"Well, I just hope that your dad and my mom don't see the empty containers in the recycling bin and think we kidnapped a baby or something," Josie remarked, rubbing her forehead to stave off her headache.

"To be honest, I kind of hope they do," Kevin confessed, twisting the cap off of one of the Pedialytes and offering it to her. "I mean, at least kidnapping a baby is kind of exciting. And also way less lame than basically falling down with the plague the moment your parents step out the door."

"Yeah, fine, let's just tell Mom and Tom that we spent the weekend snatching up infants. They'll really think we're the cool kids then." Josie accepted the bottle that Kevin handed to her, took a swig and then gagged at the cloying syrupy taste. "Oh, damn, that is _nasty_! The hell flavor is this?"

"Bubblegum," Kevin told her apologetically, taking a seat beside her. "Sorry, I would have gotten anything else, but it was the only flavor left."

"It tastes like a bunch of pieces of Dubble Bubble were ground up and then mixed in with apple juice." Josie grimaced but took another pull from the bottle. "Still, maybe it's one of those foods that tastes awful but is really good for you. Like, I don't know, kale."

"I like kale," Kevin said earnestly. "It's the prime ingredients in those 'green machine' health smoothies I like to make. I could make one now—maybe they'd help us feel better."

"Thanks, but I think I'll take the Pedialyte," Josie said before forcing down another gulp. Once she'd managed to swallow it, she pushed the bottle away. "God, this is gross. Maybe I'll just hack it with the Gatorade," she muttered, her head dropping wearily down to the table again.

"Hey," Kevin rasped, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. "You okay? Want me to help you back to the couch?"

Ordinarily Josie would have scoffed at the offer, especially since Kevin was sick himself, but now, aching and exhausted thanks to their shared illness, all she could do was cast him a pleading look. "Would you?"

Kevin gave her a small smile. "Sure."

Without delay, he grabbed a bottle of Gatorade for her and then easily scooped her up and carried her over to the couch and deposited her there. Josie was impressed by his display of strength and was about to say so when he sank down beside her, trembling violently, clearly sapped by the effort.

Wasting no time, Josie curled up close to Kevin, laying her head on his shoulder and reaching out and pulling the afghan over both sets of their legs. "Thanks. For this and for everything else. So far you've been a pretty kickass brother. And if you ever did need me to help you kidnap a baby, I totally would."

Kevin put a hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze, his fingers still trembling but slowly growing stronger. "Thanks, sis. And right back at you."


End file.
